The Babysitters
by SophomoresTheory
Summary: TOTAL FLUFF. Soda finds his young neighbor crying in the candy aisle of the DX. Abandoned by her babysitter he promises to watch her for the day. Each boy will have to take his turn watching over the young girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so this is a fluffy story that came to my mind. I tend to write them whenever I'm procrastinating and next week is my final exams so **_**of course**_** I have to write this one RIGHT NOW.**

**Johnny and Dallas are alive.**

Soda leaned over the counter and gave the pretty girl across from him one of his many charming smiles, "What can I do for you, darlin'?"

He realized that his endearment had more than the desired effect when the girl blushed and shyly responded, "Well, I wouldn't mind your number for starters," Soda internally rolled his eyes, _shy, yeah right._

"No can do gorgeous, new rules, employees can't go handin' out their numbers anymore!" He said, doing his best to sound disappointed. That was not, strictly speaking, true, but he really needed to cut down on who he gave his number to. He couldn't keep 'em all strait anymore.

The girl frowned, "Oh, well can't you break that silly old rule? Just this once, for me?"

_What was her name again? _"Not if I want to keep my job, now what can I get ya'?" Soda asked; nervously eyeing the long line beginning to form behind her. The DX was really bustling today, especially because Steve was in the back working on several cars that had come in last night and the other daytime employee, Ricky, had failed to show up for work again. For the third time this week.

Soda bit back a sigh as the people behind the girl began to show signs of impatience.

Finally the girl seemed ready to order, "Um, I think I'll have a Pepsi?" Her voice turned up at the end making her request sound more like a question. Soda waited patiently for the rest of her order but when the girl said no more he turned and pulled a cold Pepsi from the fridge. _Jesus, all that thought for nothin' but a Pepsi?_

After he served the girl she quickly left, seeing that he was in no mood to flirt. Today was going to be a long day, Soda thought. Pony had gotten up (and accidentally woken Soda up too) at the crack of dawn to start studying for the ACT's or SAT's or some acronym like that, which Darry had heartily approved of but it gave Soda a headache just thinking about. Soda had then gone back to sleep only to wake up three hours later, late for work. When he got there his boss had realized, for the first time, that one of his employees was missing and had called him out on it in front of the whole store. Granted, the DX was hardly patronized before noon, but still it hadn't made him feel too great.

Soda quickly helped the next few customers, during which the other employee finally showed up and after being yelled at by the boss man, twice as much as Soda had and in front of a much larger audience, he joined Soda at the counter.

That was when Soda first heard it. It was a high pitched slightly heart breaking sob coming from the candy aisle. "Hey Ricky, man the counter while I check something out." Ricky barely looked up from the customer he was flirting with to nod to Soda's request.

Soda made his way cautiously to the candy aisle where he found the source of the noise. Sitting in the middle of the aisle sat a small girl, Soda would guess six or seven in a bright yellow dress quietly sobbing to herself.

Soda approached the girl warily, not having much experience with distressed 6 year olds, "Hey there, sweetheart. What's wrong?"

The girls head snapped up. Apparently she hadn't heard anyone enter the aisle. Soda smiled at the girl. She really was adorable, long blond hair woven into a long French braid down her back, big green eyes, round chubby cheeks with a smattering of golden freckles everywhere the eye could see. More than that Soda was surprised to find that he recognized her.

"Hey! Denise, right?" He asked the little girl. The little girl blinked at his use of her name and sniffed. Soda remembered the girl from around his neighborhood. Her mother was a nurse who had helped fix up Johnny after the fire and Ponyboy after the rumble. She must be worried sick about her poor little daughter. Then again, Soda thought, she works double shifts back to back most every day; she probably doesn't even know her daughter's missing.

The girl hadn't responded, she just looked up at Soda with wide eyes, unable to decide whether she should be afraid of this stranger or rejoice that she'd finally found someone who knew her. Soda snagged a candy bar from the shelf and quickly opened it, holding it out to Denise as an offering.

Denise sniffed again and wiped at her cheek, reaching out toward Soda for the candy bar. "There ya' go, hun." Soda swooped her up off the ground and into his arms placing the small child on his hip, causing the girl to squeal with delight.

"Alright Denise, do you remember me? I'm Sodapop, I live next door to you!" Denise chewed the candy bar thoughtfully until her face lit up with a memory of him and other boys playing football outside his house. Soda grinned as the girl obviously placed him, her face alight with recognition.

"Now, little lady, what are you doin' here all by your lonesome?" he asked, truly worried for the poor girl.

Denise's eyes immediately filled with tears and Soda swore internally for saying the wrong thing. "Hey, now it's okay! I gotcha', we'll find your mama!"

Denise choked back tears and told him, "We can't find mama!"

"Why's that?" Soda asked, confused.

"'Cause I'm lost!" Denise wailed, catching the attention of some of the patrons.

"You're not lost, sweetheart! You got here, didn't you?"

"That's only a-a 'cause I followed Mary! But sh-she left without m-me!" Mary, Soda thought, could she mean Mary Jensen? She must, that was the only greaser Mary he remembered coming in here. _Shit, Mary left hours ago! How long had the poor girl been crying in the corner? _More than that, who in their right mind would leave their child in the care of Mary 'All Night Long' Jensen?

Denise had started to sob again, burying her head in Soda's chest and wailing furiously. "Hey now, it's alright, Denise. Shh," Soda patted her back, trying desperately to calm the child down. "Hey! Hey, I got an idea," This quieted the girl down for a moment, "You can stay with me and my friends for the day and when your mom comes home you can go see her!"

Denise thought for a moment then grinned ecstatically at the idea of playing with all the big boys who she watched play football outside on the weekends. "Okay! I can stay with you all day?" She asked.

Soda glanced back at the long lines at the counter and outside the window where cars were lining up, full of passengers ready to patronize the DX. "You'll be with one of us," he finally promised the little girl.

**The next chapters will be longer, just a fluffy story! I'll probably update soon, Steve's** **chapter is next (but Soda will probably have another chapter after he gets off work)! (Every boy will have a chapter where they have to take care of Denise)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Procrastinating some more, here's chapter two!**

**STEVE'S CHAPTER**

_Little girls were easy to take care of_. Or so Soda thought. He found out pretty quickly that they tend to cry a lot. And throw tantrums whenever they don't get their way, but Soda found a simple solution to this: give her candy!

For the most part Soda kept the girl entertained, swooping her up into the air in big circles kept her squealing and giggling but whenever Soda had to leave her to go help customers she would get misty eyed, and Soda, being the sucker that he is, simply snagged a candy bar from the shelf and handed it to Denise, effectively keeping her occupied while he was gone.

By the time he figured out that maybe this wasn't such a great idea Denise had finished off half a box of Milky Ways. Not only did Soda figure out that it probably wasn't such a good idea to stuff a 6 year old full of sugar, he also realized that he probably shouldn't be giving away that much of the merchandise for free.

However, when he stopped giving her candy she cried. A lot. "Shh, shh, it's okay Denise. Stop crying!" Soda panicked. Still Denise continued to sob as Soda heard an impatient cough from the line of customers. "Alright, honey. I'll be _right back_. You can stay _right here_, right? You won't move? After this I go on brake, if you're a good girl I'll give you more candy!" He promised.

For a moment Denise considered this then, deciding she was getting a good deal, she happily nodded.

Soda left quickly to attend to his other customers. His attention was captured by a large group of greasers with an even larger order, effectively leaving young Denise on her own, but only for a minute. _Really, how much trouble could the kid get into in only a couple of minutes?_

A lot it seemed, because when Soda turned back she was gone.

**Steve's Turn!**

_Damned idiots,_ thought Steve Randle, _am I the only one in the world who knows how to check the coolant mixture percentage?_

It seemed that the answer was yes.

He continued to mutter to himself about all the 'damned idiots' in the world that didn't know how to so much as change a flat tire, which was when he heard the first crash. Followed by another series of large bangs, thumps, and more crashes.

"SODA! WHAT THE HELL!" Steve yelled, assuming that his best friend had wandered into the garage on his brake and crashed into the perfectly neat pile of tires rims that Steve had carefully stacked that morning. A moment of dead silence fell over the garage before it was erupted by a loud wail.

A wail that Steve, for one, was sure had not come from Sodapop.

Sure enough he was right, as he turned the corner he did not see his tall, charming, idiot of a best friend but a young girl with long blond hair and green doe eyes. Eyes that were currently filling with tears.

"Hey!" Steve snapped, "Did you do this?"

The girl's bottom lip began to tremble but she resolutely shook her head from right to left. "No? Then who did it, kid?"

The child blinked her big eyes at Steve but he stood firm, staring her down. The girl, seeing that Steve was nothing like the other boy did the only thing she could think of. She screamed for Sodapop.

"What the he—? Jesus kid! Shut up, shut up. I don't care! It's okay, just a little mess, we can clean it up!" said Steve. He should have known better than to try and reason with a distressed little girl.

She was wailing, with no end in sight. He couldn't stand the sound of it, so Steve did the only thing _he _could think of. He yelled for Sodapop.

"Soda! Sodapop Curtis, get your ass out here! Where the hell did this kid come from? Make her stop!"

Soda had heard the frantic yelling and come to investigate, hoping that he would find Denise here. To his pleasure he was right. Denise stood by a large pile of tires and various supplies that had Soda remembered Steve carefully organizing that morning. She had barely stopped crying and was now staring up at Steve as if he was some type of foreign creature with which she had no experience.

Steve's expression was fascinatingly similar. "Steve! You found her," He said ecstatically picking up Denise.

"Eh? What? Found her? The little devil ruined the whole garage! My whole morning! Wasted!"

Soda rolled his eyes, "Relax, you're still getting paid for this morning's hours. Not that big a loss!"

Denise stuck her tongue out at Steve.

"Listen, I'm really glad I ran into you! I need you to watch Denise while I work!" Soda said, finally seeing a way that he could get all his work done and keep his promise to the girl.

"What? No way! Whose kid is this anyway?" Steve suddenly got really serious, "Soda…you didn't take this girl from someone, did you?"

Soda looked at Steve like he was crazy, "What? No of course not. She's a neighbor, I found her in the candy aisle, her babysitter is _Mary Jensen_." said Soda, putting special emphasis on the previous babysitter's name.

Steve's eyebrows shot up at the name, _Jesus Christ, parents will leave their kids with anyone these days._ Steve felt the slightest, only the _slightest_ twinge of pity for the little girl. But he told himself that it was probably just indigestion.

Soda noticed the flicker of sympathy and knew that if he gave just a little push that Steve would watch her for an hour, maybe two if he was lucky, "Steve, c'mon!" Soda said, putting a little wheedle in his voice.

Steve glowered, "No. I have work to get done, what do you think I do back here all day anyways? Read the paper? I don't have time to watch some stupid brat."

At the tender age of six Denise did not have what would be described as a firm hold on the English language, but she sure knew what brat meant. She glowered at Steve and grasped Soda more tightly, "I don' wanna' spend any time with you either, dummy!"

"Why you little—!" Steve only got that far before Soda cut him off.

"Steve!" He barked effectively keeping his friend from teaching young Denise some new vocabulary terms.

Gently Soda set Denise on the ground; she stood facing Steve but held her arms out behind her, wrapped around Soda's legs. Soda leaned over and cupped his hands over her ears before turning to Steve, "_Look,"_ He said, his voice was a low hiss to keep Denise from hearing him, _"Just keep an eye on the kid till I get off of work, she'll be easy to watch!"_

"_No way!" _ Steve argued back in the same hushed tone, "_I have a job to be doing!"_

"_So do I!" _Soda snapped, heavily annoyed with Steve's refusal to cooperate.

"_THEN YOU SHOULDN'T PICK UP STRAY CHILDREN!" _Hearing the muffles sounds of their argument Denise looked up, interested in what they were saying.

"_What was I supposed to do? Leave her in the store? Or return her to her whore of a babysitter?" _Steve continued to look unsympathetic to Soda's plight.

Soda, realizing he was getting nowhere, started to get desperate. He had made a promise to Denise Parkers and he was gonna keep it! "_Alright,"_ Soda switched methods; if begging wouldn't convince Steve to help then bribing probably would, "_If you watch her for one hour, two tops, then I'll get you a date with Susan Channing!"_

Steve's whole face changed, he'd been trying to get a date with Susan Channing for weeks now! He was still extremely wary but really she was a six year old girl, and it was Susan Channing they were talking about here! How hard could it be?

"Alright, I'll do it, but one hour an hour and a half tops, okay Soda?" Soda nearly jumped for joy; that was all he needed.

He took his hands off of Denise's ears and shook Steve's hand. "Don't worry man, my shift ends at 12:30, I'll be done in no time!" Happily he left the garage to rejoin Ricky at the counter.

Steve looked down at the small child that was now his responsibility for the next hour, "Well, looks like it's just you and me, kid," Unless any of the gang showed up that he could dump her off on.

She looked up at him and blinked her big green eyes, "Steve? What's a whore?"

**Ok so I thought I'd do one chapter per guy but I think this will just be an in between chapter and the next one will be Steve's actual chapter.**

**These chapters are pretty short because it's just a random, fluffy, filler story. If you have any good suggestions for babysitting mishaps then leave it in a review! **


	3. Chapter 3

"Uh," Steve said, clearly at a loss for words, "I'll tell you when you're older."

This answer was enough to satisfy Denise who happily began to skip around the garage, unaware of the several safety hazards that plagued the room. Steve however was all too aware of the ways she could get hurt.

He grabbed her at the waist and held her at arm's length. He set her in the only chair in the room. "Stay there." He said. Without looking back he picked up his tools and continued to tinker around the engine of the mustang he was working on before Denise and Soda had interrupted.

He didn't hear the pitter patter of feet until she appeared beside him, he didn't notice her until she whispered, "…_Steve!"_

"Gah! Jesus kid!" Steve nearly fell over backward; the girl cocked her head to the side and blinked her wide eyes at him.

"I told you to stay over there!" Steve snapped.

Denise was unaffected by Steve's gruffness. She'd already come to expect it from him. "I wanna help!" she wailed.

"Well you can't!" Steve said rolling his eyes and looking back to the engine resolutely.

Frowning Denise stepped back and circled the car, looking for something to amuse her. She found nothing. Lifting up her hand she let her fingers trail along the paint job. It felt slick and smooth, unlike the rusty texture of her mothers. Unfortunately Steve noticed and snapped at her, "Hey kid! Hands off the Mustang. This cost more than you'll make your whole life."

An exaggeration? Maybe. But he needed the kid to get out of his way.

"_Steve!"_ she whined, "I'm _bored_!"

Steve sighed and looked at Denise. He thought for a moment, "Okay kid. C'mere." Denise obeyed.

"Alright, you see this?" He asked, pointing to the engine. "This is broken, we gotta' fix it." Denise nodded, rapt with attention.

"Okay, take this," Steve handed her a tool, "This is called a wrench, you use it to tighten screws. You see that screw there? Tighten it for me. To the right." He instructed her.

Denise nodded eagerly and followed Steve's instructions. Steve smiled, so maybe the kid wasn't so bad. "Okay," he said retrieving the wrench from her, "you see that tool box over there? Got get it for me." Once she left Steve tightened the screw just a bit more, after all a six year old girl could only get it so tight.

Denise used all the muscle the young girl possessed to drag the tool box over to Steve. "Here…ya go." She said, out of breath.

Steve grinned; he would tire her out yet!

With the help of young Denise Steve managed to fix up two cars with time to spare! Denise didn't do any real work, just ran around and grabbed him things and when she was in the way he'd tell her to look for something that he knew she'd never find, just to keep her occupied.

Steve was actually in a pretty good mood, he gave Denis a big high five when they finished with the second car. That's when they heard the voice, "Hello? Hello, is Steve there?" it was coming from around the car they had just finished.

Steve sighed, he'd planned on finishing up early and dropping Denise off with Soda as soon as Soda was done but if he had another car to fix he could be stuck here all day.

"Whadda' ya' want, lady?" Steve asked rudely, hoping to drive the customer off. Denis giggled at Steve's term.

"I'm looking for Steve Randle," said the women and it was then that Steve's noticed the voice was kind of familiar.

"That's me," Steve said rounding the car and running straight into Susan Channing. She was absolutely stunning and she showed no interest in Soda, Steve had been trying to get her to notice him for weeks! Denise glared at the girl.

"Hey, there Steve!" she said brightly, "I was wonderin' if, ah, maybe you'd want to go get some lunch with me?"

"Lunch? Ah, really?" Steve asked, and then kicked himself. He sounded like a damn fool!

She laughed, "Yes, really."

Had Soda put her up to this already? Maybe she'd some in the DX and Soda sent her round back?

Steve immediately scrapped that idea, Soda didn't work that fast, it would've taken months of cajoling to get him to set them up, even though he'd promised. That meant that Susan Channing was here of her own accord! It also meant that Steve had babysat Denise for no good reason.

_Oh well_, he wouldn't admit it but the girl _had_ sort of helped.

Denise smiled, "I wanna go to lunch!" she cheered.

"Um, oh." said Susan, looking upset at the idea of taking a six year old along on her date.

Steve laughed and sent a glare at Denise, "No, kid, it'll just be Susan and me.

Denise glared at Steve, understanding what he meant, "I can't come?" she asked, angry.

"No." Steve snapped and Susan smiled, relieved.

"Oh yeah I'd love to get lunch with you," he told Susan checked his watch, it was 12:00 and Soda had promised to be here by 12:30, "just give me half an hour and I can go—"

"You mean you can't go now? Please? I have to go now; I've got work later." she sighed dramatically, "Oh well, maybe next time. I can go with Mike Seltz for today if—"

"_No_!" Steve yelled, "I mean, ah, no I can go now. Just give me one minute! I just gotta' find someone to watch the kid!"

Denise looked extremely upset; he was going to dump her off on someone? She looked at this other girl, _Susan_ was her name, and frowned. Denise thought she was _way_ prettier than Susan. Suddenly she smiled, "Hey Steve?" she asked.

"What?" Steve replied distractedly.

"Is Susan a whore?" Steve nearly choked on his tongue and Susan gasped. Denise didn't know what a whore was but she could tell that you didn't want to be one.

"No! No, no Denise. That…is a very bad thing to say!" to Susan, who looked very offended, he said, "She doesn't even know what that means!"

Steve looked around desperately for some type of savior to dump this loud mouth kid off on. His salvation came in the form of one Dallas Winston.

**Sorry this was short. I don't know if this was my favorite chapter…tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here you go, hope you enjoy!**

Dallas Winston walked down to the DX feeling distinctly pissed. Tim Shepard, being the asshole that he is, slashed all four of Dally's tires the day before and Dally hadn't worked up the money for new ones. Not that Dallas Winston ever worked for money, aside from jockeying for Slash J.

He entered the DX garage, not wanting to force his way into the crowded store to talk to Sodapop, and Steve was the one he wanted to see anyway. He wanted to know if he could get a discount on some new tires and how soon Steve could get his car up and running, then he was going to go down to Bucks to play some poker, hoping he could work up some extra cash.

He could hear people talkin' from a few feet away, "No!" Steve yelled, "I mean, ah, no I can go now. Just give me one minute! I just gotta' find someone to watch the kid!"

_Kid?_ Dally thought, _what kid was Steve talkin' about? _Couldn't be Ponyboy, but what other kid did they even know?

And who was Steve talkin' to anyway? He had his girl voice on, the one he used around even moderately pretty girls because he thought it made him sound tuff. No one in the gang told him how stupid it was because they all thought it was funny.

"Hey Steve?" a much younger voice asked; Dally profoundly hoped that was not the voice of whoever Steve was makin' the moves on because this kid didn't sound more than five or six years old, and that was one crime that not even Dally would be proud to have on his rap sheet.

"What?" Steve replied distractedly. Dally finally rounded the corner and surveyed the scene with interest. Susan Channing stood in front of Steve with her chest nearly spillin' out of her top, an image Dally couldn't help but admire. Steve looked slightly harried and at his feet stood a small girl who looked vaguely familiar that Dally could not for the life of him place.

She smiled and Dally couldn't help but grin. She had the most mischievous little smile Dally had ever seen on a girl, if it had been directed at him he would've called it downright evil.

Dally realized the reason she was smiling a few moments later when she looked up at Steve, her eyes big and innocent and asked, "Is Susan a whore?"

Dally pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing like a manic. The look on Steve's face was priceless as he glared at the girl who asked the question and simultaneously tried to shoot Susan Channing an apologetic look. Dally didn't know why Susan looked so scandalized, the kid wasn't the first one to ask the question.

"No! No, no Denise. That…is a very bad thing to say!" Steve replied to the kid. To Susan, who still looked very offended, he said, "She doesn't even know what that means!"

Dallas chuckled; this whole thing was so funny that he almost forgot about his tires. It was funny until Steve noticed his presence and got a gleam in his eye that Dallas didn't like one bit.

"Dally!" He boomed, "Just the man I was looking for!"

Dally narrowed his eyes at Steve, he had a pretty good idea of why Steve might be looking for him, "No." He stated, plain and simple.

Steve smiled at Susan and mouthed, _one second,_ before pulling Dally behind a stack of tires, "Okay, how much will it take to get you to watch the freakin' kid? It'll only be an hour, I _swear._"

Daly laughed, you'd think Steve would know better by now, "I ain't no babysitter and I'm not watching any kid. Where'd it come from anyway?"

Steve sighed, obviously in a rush to get back to Susan before she decided he wasn't worth the wait and left, "She's a neighbor of the Curtis', Soda found her wandering the DX and promised to watch her for the day or some shit like that," Steve said annoyed at having to explain things.

Dally nodded, finally placing the girl. He remembered seeing her around the outside of the Curtis house before a few times. He only got glimpses of her looking through windows or leaning around corners; as soon as she realized she'd been spotted she was outta' there. _Not a bad trait for a greaser, it was a skill some people had yet to learn_, Dally thought, thinking of Two-Bit.

"Listen, what's it gonna take to get you to watch this kid for me?" Dally remain stoic in the face of Steve's pleading, "Dally, its Susan Channing, _Susan Channing_, for God's sake! The kid's easy, real helpful, and she's smart too, hasn't repeated a single one of my swear words all morning! Well, except for whore but Soda taught her that anyway!"

Steve was literally begging and Dally_ almost_ let himself _consider_ the possibility to help out a buddy in need before he remembered that he was about to go to Buck's to win some money for tires, "No can do, buddy. I'm goin' to Buck's for poker."

Steve's face lit up in a way Dally didn't like one bit, "You can take Denise along! She'd a real quick leaner; I bet she'd be great at poker!" Steve said ecstatically.

Dally quickly tried to kill any hope Steve had of sticking him with the kid, "I am not goin' to Buck's with a five year old taggin' along." Dally said firmly.

"She's six!" Steve swallowed and took a deep breath before he said his next words, "I'll go half with you on your new tires and put 'em on for free."

Dally stopped for a moment and considered the new deal, half on his tires? Free service? Man, he may look stupid showin' up with a five year old in tow but this was not a deal he could afford to pass up, and Steve knew it.

Dally glared and Steve grinned, knowing he had him, "She's an angel, I swear Dal. Just keep an eye on her, teach her to play; she'll be great, then just drop her off here in an hour or so and you're off the hook!"

Dally and Steve walked back out to the girls. Susan was looking at Denise as if she were something nasty she found at the bottom of her shoe and Denise was glaring right back at her. Dally fought a grin, obviously the girl had a good sense of people. She reminded him a bit of the youngest Curtis except, much, much more mischievous. A bit like Two-Bit, but less drunk.

"Hey Denise, I'm going to lunch with Susan and Dally here is goin' to watch ya', now just do what he says and I'm sure you'll be fine, okay?" Susan had turned and walked out the door as soon as Steve confirmed their date, assuming Steve was right behind her.

For a second Steve lingered and Dally swore that he looked almost hesitant to leave the kid. _Weird_, Dallas thought, eyeing Denise, _the girl must be a real charmer to have Steve wrapped around her finger. _Dally could appreciate talent like that in anyone.

Then Susan called out Steve's name and he turned to leave, but before he reached the door Dally called out, "I really hope that Susan Channing's worth it, you'd better get to third base, at least." As Steve left Dally knew he saw a shadow of doubt cross his face. He was regretting the deal already. Ah well, Dally wouldn't be letting him out of it.

"So," he regarded the girl carefully, she was obviously a crafty one, "Ever played poker?"

**Okay so after Dally, Two-Bit will have his turn. Question: Should Two-Bit come in before poker (so he and Dallas balance each other out) or after poker and he gets his own chapter? Note that the length of the story won't be affected by this decision. Either way it'll be just as long.**

**Thanks, that's all.**

**Ciao for now!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took so long. It's not the best because I had my chapter all written out and then it was erased and it is actually really hard to re-write a chapter from scratch. **

"_So," he regarded the girl carefully, she was obviously a crafty one, "Ever played poker?"_

Denise shook her head and Dallas stared down at the small child Steve had foolishly left in his care. What was he supposed to do with it? Should he do what Steve suggested and take her to poker with him?

_No way_, Dally thought. What_ was_ he thinking? He was Dallas-fucking-Winston and no way in _hell_ was he going to show up to Buck's for poker with a six year old girl in tow, no matter how mischievous the girl proved to be.

"Scratch that," he said, and the girl nodded enthusiastically, eager to prove herself to her newest babysitter, "Are you, uh, hungry or something?" Dally asked uncertainly.

Denise nodded; it seemed that despite her earlier breakfast of stolen candy bars she still had room left for more, "Yeah."

"Okay, how about we head over to the—" Dally started to say Dingo, but suddenly figured that maybe that wasn't the best place to take a little girl out for lunch, after all some girl _had _gotten shot there once, "—the dinner," he decided on the safest location he could think of. Pony and Johnny ended up there all the time; it was one of the few places Darry didn't mind Pony being.

Denise grimaced, she knew where he was talking about and even thought the food was great the diner was all the way on the other side of the greaser territory, "That's' a long walk," she complained, as six year olds are known to do.

"Yeah well then we'd better get goin'!" Dally didn't think it was all that long a walk, but he forgot to account for the fact that one of his strides equaled about three of Denise's.

By the halfway mark Denise was struggling to keep up with the much older greaser, and it was showing. Her face was red and sweaty and her breathing was labored, what did Dally expect? It was an extremely hot day outside.

Dally crossed the street and turned to see Denise still on the other side of the road, "C'mon kid! Keep up!"

When Denise didn't move Dally sighed and rushed back across the street, it wasn't until Dally was face to face with Denise that he saw the toll the heat and walk were taking on her, "Jeez kid, what's wrong with you?"

Denise glared at him, "You're going…too…fast!" she puffed.

Dally's stomach grumbled and he eyed her warily. He was hungry and she was tired, all he wanted to do was get to the diner.

Contemplating their dilemma Dally came up with a quick fix, "Alright, kid, here's the deal; I'll carry you the rest of the way on my back, but if someone comes along you gotta' hop down real quick and you can't tell nobody about it, okay?" Dally said, always worried about his reputation. He didn't need people thinkin' that Dallas Winston was goin' around givin' free piggyback rides or some shit like that.

Denise, sensing she was being given a privilege never given before, nodded eagerly.

Dally bent down and she clambered onto his back. It felt odd to Dally, having Denise clinging to his back like a spider monkey, knowing that as of now she was his responsibility and if he fell she was goin' down with him.

Luckily the streets were nearly deserted and they made it to the diner in record time. Denise hopped down off of Dally's back outside the diner.

As they entered the diner Denise gave the hostess a big, toothless smile.

The hostess laughed as she led then to a table, which was odd as the diner was usually self-seating.

The hostess handed them menus and smiled at Dallas, "Is she yours?" the woman asked.

"Mine? No! No," Dally answered incredulously, though now that it was pointed out to him the two did look pretty alike, with their blonde hair and pale skin.

The hostess seemed extremely pleased with the answer and wrote her number on a napkin before handing it to Dallas, "Then call me sometime, handsome."

Dally gave her a roguish smile as she turned to leave. He probably wouldn't call her but she _was_ blonde so he tucked the napkin away and made a mental note to give it to Two-Bit whenever Dally saw him next.

Denise watched the interaction, her expression annoyed. Some lady already took Steve when she was having fun and she sure wasn't going to let it happen again!

"You better be careful Dally," Denise said to him gravely.

"Why's that, kid?" Dally asked not taking his gaze from the menu.

"I think she's a whore, like Susan." Denise stated so plainly that Dally nearly choked on his laugh.

"You gotta' be careful who ya' go callin' a whore! And who you're callin' 'em a whore to, kid, or someday you'll get more than you bargained for," Dally told her.

Denise frowned; maybe it would be a good idea to find out what a whore was. Figuring she may get a better answer out of Dally than Steve she tried asking him.

Dally looked confused as where to begin. Denise looked up at him questioningly, "Isn't Susan a whore?"

"Yes," Dally said before wincing. He shouldn't have said that.

Well what the fuck did Steve want him to do? He wasn't some fucking babysitter; he didn't know how to deal with this shit. So he decided to lay it out simple.

"Okay, Denise, a whore it someone who likes to…play with a lot of boys and then when the boys are done…_playing_ they forget her and she finds new boys to play with."

Denise listened to Dally's explanation skeptically, she didn't play with boys so she guessed she wasn't a whore. Denise, however, wasn't the only one listening to Dally's interesting description. A few tables over sat a familiar face, and Two-Bit, for one, had never heard of a whore described that way.

He looked over at the table that Dally sat at with a little girl, and wondered if he'd just walked into another universe. Since when did Dallas Winston take little girls out to lunch? He decided to find about a bit more about this phenomenon and left his table with the intent to join Dally's.

"So Steve will forget about Susan soon?" The girl asked hopefully. Two-Bit wondered what Susan she was talking about. Couldn't be Susan Channing, could it?

"Yeah," Dally said casually, "Steve never remembers a girl after he's fu—" Dally began before being cut off by a very confused Two-Bit who decided to attempt to salvage the last bit of innocence in Dally's dining partner.

"HEY, Dally! What_ are_ you doing?"

**Hey, sorry if it's not what you expected but I figured it would be a bit out of character for Daly to bring Denise with him to poker. I hope you liked my substitute, I don't think this chapter was the best but I wanted to put something out there. **


	6. Chapter 6

_"HEY, Dally! What are you doing?"_

Denise eyed Two-Bit critically. Almost unconsciously Two-Bit puffed out his chest, determined to pass her inspection.

"Two-Bit! I don't think I've ever been so glad to see you!" Two-Bit turned to see Dally grinning at him. The grin was most definitely not something Two-Bit wanted to see.

"Hey Dal. Sorry 'bout your tires, if Shepard's boys don't back down pretty soon we're gonna have trouble on our hands." Two-Bit said casually.

Dally frowned, remembering his tires. "How'd you hear about that anyway? I only just told Steve!"

"Bill saw Tim do it, Bill told Hank, Hank told Alice, Alice told Kim, Samantha overheard Alice telling Kim and told Mike and Mike told me!" Two-Bit shrugged like it was nothing but it was impossible to miss the gleam in his eye. He was quite proud of his network of information; around their neighborhood information was practically currency.

Dallas rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I need your help." He stated. Two-Bit looked over at Denise, plainly following Dallas' line of thought.

Through all of this Denise had remained silent, watching the exchange. This new guy, Two-Bit, seemed like a lotta' fun, maybe even more fun than Steve.

"Dally," she asked, "can we go to the park?" Two-Bit raised his eyebrows; this girl seemed almost_ comfortable_ with Dallas. Which was ridiculous. Little girls weren't comfortable around Dallas Winston, hell; _grown men_ weren't comfortable around Dallas Winston!

"No kid, shut up, I'm talking to Two-Bit, here!" Dally snapped without thinking. He realized he may have been too harsh when he heard Two-Bit let out a backwards whistle and elbow him in the side.

"Oh, uh, that's not what I meant." Dally looked at Denise, who he expected to be close to tears, but instead the girl just glared at him before huffing and turning away, "Oh, dammit, kid—" Dally began but stopped when the waitress appeared to take their order.

They quickly ordered and Dally turned back to Denise who stared resolutely at point somewhere beyond his left shoulder. It most certainly _did not_ bother him that she was upset. At least, that was what he told himself. "Kid, what I meant to say was that _I_ can't take you to the park. But, with you and I being the lucky people we are, Two-Bit here has shown up just in time and _he's_ gonna take you to the park!"

"What? No!" Two-Bit said tuning back into the conversation, "Dally I can't, I gotta head out to Buck's! Where'd you even get the girl anyway?"

Dally rolled his eyes, annoyed at being interrupted. "Two-Bit! Keep up!" Two-Bit refrained from pointing out that because he had never seen this girl in his life there was nothing for him to keep up with. Not even his secret network had informed him that Dallas was out about town and dragging a 6 year old along with him_. Good thing Dally hadn't gotten pulled over by any cops_, Two-Bit thought,_ they'd for sure think he kidnapped the girl!_ "Soda found it and gave it to Steve and Steve promised to take care of my car if I watched it for an hour or two!"

"It!? Who you callin' it, buddy?" The girl snapped.

Two-Bit started laughing so hard his face hurt, "You've only had her for an hour and you're rubbin' off on her Dally!"

"My names Denise," said the girl pointedly as she offered Two-Bit her hand.

Two-Bit shook her hand and with all the flourish of a stage performer offered the girl a roguish grin, "Hello there, little lady! My name is Keith Matthews, but the neighborhood calls me Two-Bit, pleasure to meet you darlin'!"

Denise giggled and Dally rolled his eyes and smacked Two-Bit on the back of his head. This made Denise laugh harder and Two-Bit lean in secretively and whispered, "He's just upset 'cause you like me more!"

Dally rolled his eyes again, "I ain't upset. And she don't like you more Two-Bit. She's just surprised at how someone like me could be friends with someone as stupid as you."

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow, a trick the entire gang had picked up from him, "Stupid, am I? Because I swear I remember that you were just about to ask me a favor, weren't you Dal? Doesn't matter, I can't take her to the park; I gotta go to Buck's. I just worked up that twenty bucks I owe Jimmy, ya' know, the one from the bet between that old greaser and the New Yorker that came around here? Anyways he's gettin' restless."

"Aw, come on, Two-Bit! You owe me after that rumble! And" Dallas said searching his pockets for the napkin with the hostess' number on it, "I got'cha the number of that pretty blonde up there," Dallas said attempting to tempt Two-Bit with the one thing that was sure to make him lose sight of his goal.

Two-Bit eyed the hostess, who was one of the few blondes in Tulsa he'd yet to be introduced to, "She sure is a pretty blonde," he murmured.

Denise frowned. Why was it that all her babysitters were obsessed with whores? "I'm a pretty blonde," she said, matter-of-factly.

Two-Bit burst out laughing, which Denise did not appreciate, "Yeah, kid, well, call me when you're sixteen!"

Without missing a beat Dally leaned over and smacked him across the back of the head, "Better make that eighteen," Two-Bit muttered, this time earning himself a hard punch in the arm from Dallas, who surprisingly, found that he didn't like the idea of naïve, innocent Denise surrounded by greaser boys like them.

Two-Bit leaned back. On the one hand, he was hesitant to leave the poor girl alone with Dallas Winston for any more time than was absolutely necessary, but on the other, he _really_ needed to get Jimmy his money. The guy wasn't one you wanted to have a grudge against you.

"I'll tell you what," Two-Bit began, "Y'all can come with me. I got my car we can head out to the Dingo! You can even play a few hands of poker; work up what you need to replace those tires, Dal, eh? It's a win, win!"

Dally nodded at Two-Bit's plan, it sounded good to him except for one part, "If you're off paying your debt and I'm playing poker, who's gonna watch Denise?"

Two-Bit shrugged, already out of the booth and pulling on his jacket, "What? Oh yeah. Well, we can leave her in the car. It's only 65 outside!"

Denise frowned as she slid out of the booth beside Dallas, "I ain't waitin' in no car!" she snapped, this was supposed to be a fun day! Soda promised!

The three of them argued all the way out to Two-Bit's car, except at the doors where Two-Bit stopped to wink at the waitress. He looked like he might've stuck around for a while until Denise, slightly fed up with Mr. We-can-leave-her-in-the-car rammed her elbow into his thigh. Two-Bit grimaced and wrapped it up with the waitress.

"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" He snapped and Denise grinned at him. Two-Bit paused, some of his annoyance fading away. It was just so hard to be mad at a face like that!

If anyone thought it was odd to see two legendary greasers open the door to their car and buckle a 6 year old in, well, they didn't say anything about it. After all, stranger things had happened, right?


	7. Chapter 7

Denise groaned and pressed her forehead against the cool glass of Two-Bit's window. Sitting in a car was the most boring, monotonous way to spend a day. And she, of all people, would know. When her mama couldn't get a babysitter Denise often had to wait in the car while her mama worked inside a large, imposing brick building. She had no idea what her mama did for a living but Denise was never allowed to go inside.

The car was hot, sticky and gave off the unpleasant aroma of stale cigarettes. Denise was about as indignant as a six year old could manage. She had no way to tell time but, by her calculations, Two-Bit and Dally had been inside the decrepit old bar for about a gazillion hours.

She felt like screaming. If she had known that leaving the DX would lead to this she would've held on to Soda or Steve with all the strength a six year old could muster.

When the heat had drenched her in sweat and her breaths felt harsh in the small area of Two-Bit's backseat Denise finally decided that anything would be better than this. In desperation she began to pound on the window and yell for someone,_ anyone_, to let her out.

XxXXxXxXxxxccc

Pony strolled alongside Johnny, his collar popped and his head bowed, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.

"I _swear_ it was here, Ponyboy. Really—," Johnny repeated for the eighth time.

"Yeah, yeah, Johnny I believe you. Maybe it'll come back, but I doubt it. All the noise from Buck's probably scared it off." Right now Ponyboy's biggest concern was getting outta here without being spotted. If it got back to Darry that he was hangin' around Buck's, then_ boy_, he would be in for it.

"Hey," Johnny stopped so suddenly Ponyboy nearly crashed into him.

"What is it, Johnny?" Pony asked, frantically scanning their surroundings.

Johnny nodded to an old, beat up, piece of junk that Two-Bit affectionately referred to as a car, and Pony, half whispering, let out a curse. He grabbed Johnny and ducked behind the nearest pickup truck. If Two-Bit saw him Pony was dead; Two-Bit didn't earn his name by keepin' his mouth shut.

Johnny swatted at Pony's arm, "No man, Two-Bit's not in the car! Look at the lot, it's deserted, I bet they're all inside playin' poker. But…man, I think I saw a kid in Two-Bit's back seat."

Ponyboy slowly rotated his head toward his friend, wondering what screw had been knocked lose in Johnny's head. "Johnny! Two-Bit doesn't have a kid in his car!" Ponyboy stood, no longer worried at being spotted. Johnny was right; the lot was vacant.

"Yeah, man," Johnny said, "look." Johnny pointed in the direction of Two-Bit's sorry excuse for a vehicle and Pony gaped at the small, howling, figure that pounded on the glass windows.

"Jesus," he cursed as he sprinted toward the car. It was hot outside, but stuck in a car? It musta' felt like a 100 degrees.

Pony made quick work of the lock on Two-Bit's car. It was half broke and all it needed was a little jimmy and it gave in with a soft snick. Two-Bit didn't ever bother to fix the lock because no greaser would ever steal from him and no soc would want his car.

Johnny pulled the door open and a small girl came stumbling out of the ugly interior. She wore a yellow dress and had a long, blond French braid that fell halfway down her back. At first glance Johnny thought she looked very much like cherub. That is until the little cherub turned and, with all her might, aimed a kick at the body of Two-Bit's car. Then she looked more like a demon in disguise.

Denise eyed Two-Bit's vehicle critically before giving it one more kick for good measure. _Serves him right_, she thought. He spent the whole car ride poking fun at her then left her to bake. She wanted to go back to Soda; spending time with these other boys who had other things on their mind was tiresome and disappointing. Like all little girls, Denise expected to be the center of all attention. The idea that the opposite was true was just too much for her delicate sensibilities.

As the girl sniffed Johnny could see that her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were ruddy from crying as she scowled at Two-Bit's car. Who was she? She was too young to be Two-Bit's little sister, and although she was vaguely familiar Johnny had no confidence that he could correctly identify her.

In the end it was Pony who recognized her, "Hey!" he said suddenly, snapping his fingers in an effort to coax out the name from the tip of his tongue. "Denise!" he finally spit out. Johnny nodded, finally placing the girl as the Curtis' neighbor from across the street.

Denise sniffed and blinked at Pony and Johnny, as if only just realizing their presence. When her eyes alighted on Ponyboy her entire face lifted and she cried, "Soda!" before leaping into his arms.

"Whoa!" Pony yelped as she jumped at him. She'd locked her arms around his neck and Pony turned to Johnny, desperately seeking assistance. Johnny just shrugged, not having any more experience with young girls than Pony apparently had.

"I-I'm not Soda," Pony muttered as he tried to pry young Denise off of himself. However, when Denise heard his confession she pulled away and looked him in the eye. With a great howl of disappointment she hauled herself away from Pony and slid to the ground.

Pony immediately felt pity lodge somewhere in his chest as he watched the girl use one pudgy hand to wipe the tears from her chubby cheeks. She did it the way all young children do it, with their whole palm and no regard for their appearance, more smearing the tears around than wiping them off.

"Denise, hey, Denise," Pony said gently, again appealing to Johnny for help. Johnny sighed and knelt down so that he was eye level with Denise.

"Denise," Johnny said, the word dislodging itself from his throat with surprising ease, "how do you know Soda?" _Aside from the fact that he's your neighbor,_ Johnny mentally added.

Denise plopped herself down in the dirt and, still choking on sobs, told them how Soda found her and about the time she'd spent with Steve and Dally. "I-want-to-go-home!" she wailed clutching Johnny's hand. Johnny looked slightly surprised but Denise, distraught as she was, didn't even pause.

"Talk about disenchanted," Pony muttered. Usually Two-Bit was so good with kids a crowbar was needed to pry them away. Pony supposed being left to bake in a shell of a car would do that to a girl.

A loud burst of raucous laughter was heard from inside Buck's and Pony swiftly recalled his present situation. "C'mon, Niece," he said quietly, shortening the girl's name. Johnny raised his eyebrows, "Well," Pony sighed, "you wanna' leave her with the two geniuses that locked her in a damn car for an hour? 'Sides our houses are just across the street."

Pony jumped as another eruption of sound came from the doors. "Let's get out of here," he said, unable to keep the anxiety from his voice.

Johnny nodded and stood, but was caught off guard when Denise tugged on his jacket and reached up, clearly requesting that he carry her. Johnny glanced up at Pony who grinned, content to let his friend work this one out on his own.

They shut Two-Bit's car door and headed out of parking lot, prepared for a long walk home.

**Uh oh. What will Dally and Two-Bit do when they return to find Denise missing?!**

**Hey, should I put socs in this story? Like they run into some or no?**


End file.
